If you will, you can become all flame.Extra caritatem nulla salus.In order to become whole, take the "I" out of "holiness". सर्वभूतहितἌνω σχῶμεν τὰς καρδίας"Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is." -- Mohandas GandhiY dduw bo'r diolch.

Not sure I've seen this before. Especially not with Russians. When is black used?

It is as augustin said. I'm surprised to hear you say "especially not with Russians", where the range of "liturgical colors" according to the season or category of feast is much broader than that of Greek tradition. A frequent variant is the wearing of dark purple (the brocade also featuring plenty of black in the pattern) during weekdays of Great Lent (red is worn on Saturdays and Sundays), instead of black with silver trim, with the latter worn only during Holy Week.

Regarding Russian funerals, it is not always the case that black or dark purple is worn. Centuries ago, white was the appointed vestment color, but this has almost disappeared, other than for funerals held in Bright Week. Many Russian priests will simply wear whatever color is appointed for that time of the year, such as blue if the funeral falls during the period of a feast to the Mother of God, etc.

Up until about twenty years ago or so, maybe more, in ACROD at least, black was worn as Augustin indicated. However, white is now the prescribed burial and memorial color and black is reserved only for the Great Vespers of Great Friday. Unlike this ROCOR video, our priests vest in purple for Great Lent, including Pre-Sanctified Liturgies, reserved 'red' for the Sunday of the Holy Cross and the Feast of the Exhaltation. Interestingly, the Great Russians change from White to Red following the Paschal matins, prior to Liturgy. So...I don't think there is a rigid, fixed "Orthodox" rule. It varies by tradition and all is good - even if it isn't what you are 'used' to seeing.

As did Greek Catholics of that era and for some time so did the Orthodox who 'migrated' from Greek Catholicism. Today I think that the Slavic Greek Catholics wear red for these occasions? Not sure why...

They still do. The liturgical reforms did not do away with black: they merely opened up other options. Many still do wear black.

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'There is nothing upon earth holier, higher, grander, more solemn, more life-giving than the Liturgy. The church, at this particular time, becomes an earthly heaven; those who officiate represent Christ Himself, the angels, the cherubim, seraphim and apostles.' - St John of Kronstadt

I have a set of hand-me-down black and silver vestments. It quickly became a fave of my altar staff, who would often ask me to wear my "Oakland Raiders" vestments regardless of the time of year or service.

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"As the sparrow flees from a hawk, so the man seeking humility flees from an argument". St John Climacus

"In earlier times, there were no black vestments in the Orthodox Church, although the everyday clothing of the clergy, especially the monastics, was black. In ancient times, both in the Greek and in the Russian Churches, the clergy wore, according to the Typikon, "Crimson Vestments": dark (blood) red vestments. In Russia, it was first proposed to the clergy of Saint Petersburg to wear black vestments, if possible, to participate in the Funeral of Emperor Peter II [1821]. From that time on, black vestments became customary for funerals and the weekday services of Great Lent."

They still do. The liturgical reforms did not do away with black: they merely opened up other options. Many still do wear black.

News to me, I've been to Roman Catholic funerals and such all my life and haven't seen a priest wear black, only white.

This is possibly more to do with your location than anything else. As you are likely aware, each Catholic Bishops' Conference is allowed to make its own variations on standard practice within certain parameters. It has been a few years now since I was interested in modern Roman liturgics so I have had to check. The General Instruction to the Roman Missal in the specific edition of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gives violet as the primary colour for masses of the dead, with white or black (in that order) given as an alternative. Clearly, your experience is that the last option is seldom used. By contrast, the GIRM of the Conference of England and Wales lists White first, with violet and black given equal weight as alternatives. While it is certainly not commonplace, one does not have to look very hard to find black used.

These trends vary by locale and culture.

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'There is nothing upon earth holier, higher, grander, more solemn, more life-giving than the Liturgy. The church, at this particular time, becomes an earthly heaven; those who officiate represent Christ Himself, the angels, the cherubim, seraphim and apostles.' - St John of Kronstadt

I have a set of hand-me-down black and silver vestments. It quickly became a fave of my altar staff, who would often ask me to wear my "Oakland Raiders" vestments regardless of the time of year or service.

Not sure I've seen this before. Especially not with Russians. When is black used?

Holy Week...

Fr. Thomas Hopko talked about this on his series "Worship in Spirit and Truth" where he says that in Orthodoxy, vestments were never black (save for cassocks), and the practice of using black vestments came first in Russia amongst the clergy of St. Petersburg for the funeral of Czar Peter I, and it gradually spread for funerals and use in Holy Week.

It is interesting to note that in Jerusalem and at least at Balamand, the seminary, university and Patriarchal Monastery in Lebanon, the Priests wear white vestments for the Lamentations service on Great and Holy Friday. There is a Youtube of the service.